1/2 cup              Butter

1 cup                            Sugar

1 ea                            Egg

1 cup                            Persimmom Pulp

2 cup                            Flour

1 tsp                            Baking Soda

1 tsp                            Cinnamon

1 tsp                            Nutmeg (ground)

1 tsp                            Cloves (ground)

1 tsp                            Salt

1 cup                            Raisins

1 cup                            Walnuts (chopped)

Instructions

·       Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

·       Set butter out to soften at room temperature.

·       When soft, put into a mixing bowl and add sugar, egg and Persimmon Pulp.  Mix until it is creamy.

·       Mix in flour, baking soda and spices.

·       Mix in raisins and nuts.

·       Drop rounded teaspoon full of dough onto a greased cookie sheet.

·       Bake at 350 or 375 degrees for 15 - 20 minutes.

Notes

Be sure to use the Hachiya variety of Persimmon.  Set them out to ripen and soften.  Whey they feel like a water balloon, they are ready.

--Simply take the stem off and put the Persimmons (peel and all) into a blender.  Blend until it is in a pulp form.  You can then put the pulp into a freezer ziploc bag.  You can store this in the freezer for up to a year.  But once your family eats your first Persimmon cookies, you'll run out real quickly.

--When Your Produce Man was just four years old, his mom first got this recipe from a neighbor's grandmother.  Of course, Mom added to the recipe and improved it.  At every Christmas season, Your Produce Man savors a batch of warm, soft Persimmon cookies, my very favorite.

ANOTHER MOM’S PERSIMMON COOKIES

Ingredients

1 cup                            Sugar

½ tsp                            Salt

½ cup                            Shortening

1 ea                            Egg (beaten)

1 cup                            Persimmon Pulp

1 cup                            Milk

2 cup                            All-purpose Flour

¼ tsp                            Ground Cloves

½ tsp                            Ground Cinnamon

½ tsp                            Ground Nutmeg

1 cup                            Raisins

1 cup                            Walnuts (chopped)

1 cup                            Persimmon Pulp (blended with 1 ½ tsp of lemon juice and 1 tsp of baking soda)

1 ea                            Egg (lightly beaten)

1 cup                            Sugar

½ cup                            Salad Oil

1 ¾ cup              Flour

1 tsp                            Salt

1 tsp                            Nutmeg

1 cup                            Chopped Nuts

8 oz                            Pitted Dates (cut finely)

Instructions

·       Prepare Pulp and set aside (see note on my mom’s recipe)

·       Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

·       Mix the egg with Persimmon Pulp

·       Add sugar and salad oil.  Mix until creamy.  Add flour and spices.  Fold in.  Add dates and nuts.

·       Pour batter into a greased, lightly dusted 10x13 baking dish.  Bake at 350 for about 25 minutes, until top is lightly browned.

·       Cool on a rack for 5 minutes before cutting into bars.

·       Mix some sugar with lemon juice to make an easy lemon glaze.  Brush on top of the Persimmon Bars.

PERSIMMON PUDDING By Rennie Wilsnack

Ingredients

3 ea                            Eggs

2 cup                            Persimmon Pulp

1 ¼ cup              Sugar

1 ½ cup              Flour

1 tsp                            Baking Powder

1 tsp                            Baking Soda

½ tsp                            Salt

½ cup                            Melted Butter

2 ½ cup              Milk

2 tsp                            Cinnamon

1 tsp                            Ginger

½ tsp                            Nutmeg

Instructions

·       Pre-heat oven to 325 degrees.

·       Put your Persimmon pulp into a large mixing bowl.  Beat in eggs, then sugar and flour.  Add in the remainder of the ingredients.

·       Grease a 9x9 baking dish

·       Add pudding mixture into baking dish and bake at 325 degrees for about an hour, or until it is firm.

·       Serve with cream or a hard sauce (like caramel sauce).

Optional:  Add 1 cup of raisins and/or 1 cup chopped nuts to the batter.

ANOTHER PERSIMMON PUDDING By Chef Gwen KVAVLI GULLIKSEN, inspired by Margrit Mondavi

Ingredients

4 ea                            Ripe Persimmons

1 cup                            Flour, all-purpose

4 ounces              Butter, unsalted, softened

1 ea                            Egg, large

1 tsp                            Cinnamon

1 ¾ tsp              Baking Soda

1 tsp                            Vanilla Extract

6 TBS                            Brown Sugar, packed

6 TBS                            Sugar

¼ tsp                            Salt

1 tsp                            Lemon Extract             

Instructions

·      Chop persimmon into large pieces.  Place all ingredients into the bowl of a food processor or a mixing bowl and mix until smooth.

·      Generously butter the pudding mold then pour in the batter.

·      Lock the lid of the pudding mold and steam over a low heat for 2 ½ hours – check every 20 minutes to add water if necessary.  Do not let water be more than one inch above the mold at any time.

·      It may also be steamed in the oven @ 350 degrees in a water bath for 2 ½ hours.

·      Cool before unmolding.

·      Serve with whipped cream, hard sauce, rum raisins, berry puree, etc.